The present invention relates generally to hand-held mobile communication devices such as mobile telephones, palmtop computers, personal digital assistants (PDA's), or the like, and more particularly, to a mobile communication device having a rotating keypad assembly thereby allowing the mobile communication device to provide its user with multiple key arrangements having a greater number of keys than possible with conventional keypads without unnecessarily increasing the size of the mobile communication device.
Many mobile communication devices, in particular, mobile telephones, comprise a small display and a telephonic or numeric keypad providing a limited number (e.g., twelve to fifteen) keys for keying numeric information such as telephone numbers, or the like, into the mobile communication device. However, many users find such keypads ill suited for entry of alphanumeric text such as address book entries, calendar entries, text messages, and the like, or for specialized functions such as gaming, e-mail or Internet browsing.
To alleviate such shortcomings, mobile communication devices such as palmtop computers, personal digital assistants (PDA's), or the like, typically provide alphanumeric (e.g., QWERTY) keypads or employ a display, overlaid with a touch sensitive panel or touch screen, instead of a keypad. A numeric keypad may then be displayed by the display when needed, such as when telephony functions are used. However, while such mobile communication devices provide an impressive suite of functions (e.g., address books, calendars, Internet access, and the like) to the user, they also have drawbacks. For example, mobile communication devices that employ alphanumeric keypads are generally more cumbersome to use than mobile communication devices employing conventional numeric keypads when telephony functions are desired. Likewise, numeric keypads typically do not support specialized functions such as gaming, Internet browsing, or the like. Similarly, mobile communication devices that employ displays overlaid with touch panels are typically more expensive than mobile communication devices employing conventional keypads. Such mobile communication devices are also somewhat less robust than devices employing conventional keypads since the large, open display and touch screen are more susceptible to damage than would be a conventional keypad and smaller display.
Consequently, it is desirable to provide a mobile communication device having a keypad assembly that is capable of providing keypads having different arrangements of keys (e.g., numeric keypads, alphanumeric keypads, keypads adapted for gaming, Internet browsing, etc., and the like) without unnecessarily increasing the overall size of the mobile communication device.